Sunil Gavaskar says Virat Kohli can score 100 tons if he can play for 5-6 more years
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has backed Virat Kohli to score 100 international hundreds if he continues to play till the age of 40. The legendary batsman also said that he would not be surprised if Kohli plays for 5-6 more years, given his excellent fitness. Talking to India Today after Virat Kohli scored his 46th ODI century, Sunil Gavaskar said that he is confident that Kohli will be able to achieve 100 international tons if he also keeps the hunger to score big.
However, Kohli has scored 4 international hundreds in the last 6 months and has been in scintillating form in white-ball cricket in the lead up to the 2023 ODI World Cup. He is just 3 hundred away from equaling Sachin Tendulkar’s ODI record of 49 tons. as well. Kohli needs 26 more hundreds to equal Sachin Tendulkar’s world record of 100 international hundreds. Tendulkar also scored 51 Test centuries and 49 ODI centuries in his career, while Kohli has 46 ODI centuries, one T20I century and 27 Test hundreds.
He said, ‘If he plays for 5 or 6 years, he will reach 100. There is no doubt about it.’ His average is around 6-6 centuries in a year. If that happens then definitely he can add 26 more centuries in the next 5-6 years if he plays till 40 years.
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“Sachin Tendulkar also played till his 40s and he maintained his fitness. Kohli is very conscious about his fitness. He is still the fastest runner between the wickets in this Indian team. When MSD was there only you could say that MS Dhoni was as fast if not faster. Today at this age he beats the youth. Converting 1s into 2s, and 2s into 3s, he’s an absolute champion at that. And not just for his runs, but for his teammates as well. So with this kind of fitness, it would not be surprising at all for him to play for 40 years,” Sunil Gavaskar further said.
Virat Kohli has not been selected for T20Is this year, but he is also a key member of the Royal Challengers Bangalore Indian Premier League franchise. At 34, he has spoken a lot about the need to freshen up and consider taking a break. Gavaskar also believes that Kohli will have no problem in continuing to play international cricket for another 6 years.
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“I don’t see that (a problem in playing all formats and in the IPL). It’s your love for the game that keeps you going. Sometimes, it’s that love for the game that keeps you going for more than a year or two. If you have love for the game then you can play for a long time. When he is, I don’t think there is any concern for the long run,” concluded Sunil Gavaskar.
